Rimac will show a highly autonomous ‘robotaxi’ in early 2024 and plans for it to be in commercial operation by 2026.
The Croatian company, maker of the 1877bhp Nevera electric hypercar and parent of Bugatti, is expanding into the mass-mobility market under the Project 3 Mobility banner.
Rimac has revealed only a few details of the commercial plan for its robotaxi so far, but it has been announced that some backing will come from Kia.
Founder and boss Mate Rimac told Autocar that the Nevera serves an important purpose as a halo product for Rimac but the robotaxi project aims to “change the lives of more people” by providing easy-access, electric urban transport.
Details remain scarce ahead of its unveiling, but the robotaxi is understood to be capable of driving entirely without human input and will operate within a framework of infrastructure that Rimac is developing alongside the vehicle itself – including chargers, storage hubs and parking spaces.
However, Rimac revealed to Autocar that the mysterious machine “is a car but a completely different type”. This suggests that it will be a largely bespoke proposition, designed with an emphasis on maximising interior space and electric powertrain efficiency.
The fact that Rimac has been using a Renault Espace MPV for testing purposes could give some indication as to the robotaxi’s size and shape.
Mate Rimac said it “could change the way people move around cities”. His thinking is that the service can be premium but “that doesn’t mean expensive or posh”.
His company is purposely staying under the radar until it has a product to show, in order to avoid “underdelivering”. Project 3 is a stand-alone brand within the Rimac Group portfolio, separate from both the eponymous supercar maker and Bugatti.
It was recently awarded €179.5 million (£156.7m) in funding from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, which exists to encourage economic growth across the bloc post-pandemic.
Project 3 is centred on the Croatian capital, Zagreb, but it also has an R&D presence in the UK, with around 100 engineers based at a new facility at the Rimac Technology R&D UK base near Warwick.
Project 3’s first priority is to build a dedicated factory for the robotaxi, before beginning operations in various locations outside Croatia. Mate Rimac explained in a statement: “The goal is for the production of vehicles and a large number of components
to be based in Croatia, which would then export tens of thousands of units per year to locations where the robotaxi service will be provided.”
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Might as well as been a story about flying cars fuelled by water, not going to happen.
What I don’t get is all the interest in robotaxi service and to money it is claimed to generate. I had a coworker whose exhusband was a taxi driver for years and she said that there is little to no money in it! Because he had to pay child support, she had a view of his finances per court order and though he worked a lot of hours and worked close with the owner, his take home pay was not the best. Then there are the reports of workers at Lift and Uber, making little and it makes one wonder, where is the appeal to operating a fleet of robotaxis? GM has invested big money in their Cruise autonomous taxi service and Rimac and others are seeing this as a sustainable investment opportunity and I’m having a hard time seeing it!
The punter scores, no need to own an expensive paper weight sitting 96% of time on your driveway, your picked up at your Door taken to your destination, Taxi comes back etc etc, yes it's not so good because there is no actual driver so there's not a wage involved, cars don't go of sick, have Holidays with pay, that's our fault?, well, yes it is, this is technology working today, we all dreamt of it growing up,well, no it's here and we don't liike it.
So many points of your diatribe are rubbish, plus, it's not working and I didn't go up dreaming about self driving cars.
Ok, so do you think we're heading for driverless transport in the future?
No and certainly not by 2026.
My point was, taxi drivers don’t make much to begin with, so how is that Rimac and others are planning to make money, especially millions (billions according to GM) of dollars, just because the taxis drive themselves?